10 desserts to tempt your sweet tooth

Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup

This is a great soup to have on a cold day. Roasting the tomatoes makes them wonderfully sweet and rich. It has been incredibly windy here in Portland this past week, so a big pot of soup sounded good. I just picked up some fresh basil at Trader Joe’s so I decided to make a batch of tomato and basil soup. In the summer, I strain the soup so it’s thin and light. In the winter, I usually serve it thick and unstrained for a hearty version. It’s great either way and works well for lunch or dinner. I usually serve it with a salad and a crusty piece of bread or a really good sandwich.

Roasted Tomatoes and Garlic:

1 28 oz can of whole tomatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp dried basil

2-3 cloves of garlic, sliced into thin slivers

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Strain tomatoes from juice, reserving juice for later. Spray cooking spray over a tinfoil lined baking sheet. Add tomatoes, drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the top along with the dried basil and the salt and pepper to taste. Slide the garlic slivers into the tomatoes, they will roast and soften inside as well as infuse the tomatoes with their flavor. Place in oven and roast for approximately 30 minutes. Don’t over roast or they will be dry.

In a separate bowl add milk. Slowly spoon a little bit of soup mixture into milk to warm (don’t pour cold milk into the soup because it will curdle). Once the bowl of milk is warm add it to the soup along with the fresh basil. Remove the bay leaf and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. If you want a thin soup, pour mixture through a strainer. If you want thicker soup, serve as is. Enjoy.

About Pam

My name is Pam and I am a stay at home mom with two children who inspire me to be a better cook. I love using fresh ingredients, organic when possible, and I like to experiment with different tastes and textures. I try to keep my recipes lower in fat but still tasting great. My favorite hobbies are cooking, photography, and blogging so I decided to combine them and create a recipe blog. It has been a wonderful way to organize my recipes and share them at the same time.